Two
weeks after the Catholic Central High School senior brought home a
fourth-place medal in the heavyweight division at the Michigan High
School Athletic Association Division 3 wrestling state finals, he was
in the boxing ring battling for a superheavyweight novice title at the
West Michigan Golden Gloves Championships.

Guy, who boxes out of
MLK-GR Box Gym, got out to a rousing start. He beat Tedarial Edwards of
Kalamazoo Kayo BC when the referee stopped the contest 45 seconds into
the second period on the second of four nights of bouts hosted by the
Grand Valley Armory on Wednesday night.

“I love team sports, but
when your hard works pays off individually, that’s even sweeter,” said
Guy, 17. “I like proving myself out there.”

He proved himself to Edwards, putting constant pressure on him the entire bout.

Guy said three months of high school wrestling got him into shape for his first boxing match.

“I
was nervous when I got out there because it was my first fight, but I
felt good out there,” Guy said. “My stamina can get better, but because
of wrestling, I have that stamina to a level where I think I can do
good.”

A much smaller competitor, Alma 10-year-old boxer Alex
Roasas, also enjoyed a productive night. He unloaded a flurry of
punches against Clinton County Boxing Club’s Justin Mulder, beating him
when the referee stopped the contest 56 seconds into the third period
of the 75-pound junior bout.

“I was really nervous when I got out
there,” said Roasas, who is 4-4 in his first year of boxing. “But he
came out and attacked, and then I went on the attack. And then when the
referee gave him that first (standing eight-count), that cooled me
down. Then I just kept working my angles.”

“I was nervous at the start of the fight,
but my first punch got my adrenaline going,” said Mendoza, 14, a Lee
High School freshman. “My jab is one of my best punches, and he
confused me, so I kept using my jab.”

The night concluded with two open bouts won by local boxers.

Hudsonville’s
Nial Shimmell of MGGA beat MLK-GR Box’s Michael Mosley 5-0 in their
165-pound fight, followed by Nicholas Klein of MLK-GR Box, who stopped
Sugar Tony’s Boxing Club’s Dorian Hatcher at 55 seconds of the second
round when his corner threw in the towel during their 165-pound bout.

Shimmell and Klein are scheduled to meet Saturday in a semifinal bout on the tournament’s third night.

“I
felt strong, I did not fatigue at all,” said Klein, 24. “I look forward
to Saturday, because Nial is a good fighter, and it should be a good
show."